Some of these other suggestions are completely brainless, this is the way.
When you sign a lease, if it says you can use the full property then you get the full property for the duration of the lease unless you both agree to amend the terms. This is the gentlest option if it’s a family member you don’t want to burn.
Another angle is you can see if they pulled permits. You can easily check these in public record. I’d be blown away if they are pulling permits for all this considering how unprofessional they sound but you can’t just add a structure and move a septic tank without permits. If they get caught doing un-permitted work then it’s a bad day for their plans.
I can't even imagine how heavy the fine is for putting in a septic tank without the proper permits.
The level of inspection required when putting a addition to a sewer main in a city system is rigorous. They MAKE sure you have enough threads down the bolt and will make you start completely over if it won't tighten enough
A septic tank on what I'm assuming is rural land is gonna be even more heavily over sighted. The eco damage of you don't cure the concrete right and it starts leaking into the soil, the arborist will come after you if you put it anywhere that risks killing a adult tree via root damage, the animal conservation people are going to have a field day with your checkbook if even one single dead lizard or small animal is found and you happened to have dug through one of its home areas.
Guys fucked if he didn't get septic permits
The property already has a septic system. He's adding the tiny house to an existing system.
However, he still needs permits to do this work and he can fuck up the system if the plumbers don't know what they are doing, or if the current system can't handle the additional people who are adding to it. This could cause the system to fail entirely, requiring a costly replacement.
That means a new perc test, digging up the old system and filling it with concrete so it does not become a hazard, then digging a new system sized for the number of people expected to live on the property. It might require a new leach field. A lot depends on how old the previous system is.
My septic system is 75 years old. A previous owner DIY'd a sump pump connecting to it a few years ago ... no permit. I've had two plumbers look at it, because when the ground is oversaturated with rain it causes a backwash that lets sewer odors into the house. Both plumbers told me not to mess with it. I could make the problem worse, though I suspect they just don't want to deal with the sewage and the possibility of liability in regards to my system. So I either have to live with it (have for the past 3 years) or do the work myself and pray I don't eff it up. I'm probably going to do something about it this summer, once the ground dries out.
Never mess with a septic system without good reason. The LL in this case should have installed a separate system.
I also live in the middle of nowhere in the south but code enforcement in my county is by the book. Like make me tear down an exterior wall with chimney after I had repaired and replaced it to ensure distance from combustible materials when I even had measures photos of the process.
In my county you can only have 1 residence per parcel and no shared septic, though you can have shared well. Definitely worth looking into.
I live in the middle of nowhere, in the south.
I promise you they care.
Small, middle of nowhere, in the south towns are dying out and don't have much in the way of funding coming in anymore.
They want whatever they are able to get.
Unpermitted building will definitely be cared about, moreso if you're planning to sale or rent.
Oh I garauntee you they do, call deq or whoever deals with septic in your state...they take septic shit very seriously, I recently replaced the drain field on my system, had to pay for permit snd hsd to have deq come and inspect before I could backfill...I promise..make a phone call, rhey care A LOT
Reddit seems to have a hard time understanding this point. I have a house in a rural area and we can do pretty much anything there without a permit. When I bought it I installed a new roof, new electric, removed a wall inside, and re-plumbed the house with zero permits required.
The flip side is the hose I live in is located in the city. I need a permit to put a new hat water tank in or add outlets.
I live in a municipality where all the neighbors were concerned why I even bothered to get permits. Plus lots of the permits were cheap compared to getting the equivalent closer to the city center.
You can do that if it’s in the county. Sounds like this may be outside of city limits. Maybe other states have ordinances outside of the cities but here, in the county it’s every man for himself. You can put a trailer or a tiny house or an outhouse or a pile of rusted out cars in your front yard and nobody can do anything. You can do your own septic work, add or remove meters… whatever you want.
This would be a great option, but I suspect it is not readily available where OP is located. A remote (online) lawyer should be reasonable and convenient.
They can refer you to clinics and legal hotlines still. They can also provide advice depending on the circumstances and there are different income guidelines depending on the location and grants available for that specific legal issue.
OP, pursuing this angle is how you are going to get out of this, either by shutting down what the landlord is attempting to do and continuing to rent, or being able to get out of your lease without penalty.
I’d shoot for the latter as the relationship will be damaged after pursuing legal action.
Do you have a tenants rights committee in your town?
Oh, it's almost certainly patently illegal. You have to get permits to put any new structure on something and many jurisdictions have ordinances prohibiting multi family living on one parcel, even MIL type units like this.
There are some parcels of land that are “unrestricted” and don’t require permits except for septic for example. It varies by state and county. There are 3,143 different counties in the US.
Considering a tiny house usually doesn’t have a foundation, it’s unlikely you’ll need a permit. It’s a rural area (septic tank) so likely very little is permitted, and doubtful there’s an ordinance against multi family living if it’s rural. So hard to “almost certainly” when there’s not even information and it’s not at all illegal in many areas.
Lots of tiny houses are on foundations. You would definately need a permit for one with a foundation.
I do get that in rural areas people do lots of things without permits. My house was built in 1950 and lots of work was done without permits. But there are zoning laws where I live and I cannot build a MIL unit and rent it out without zoning approval.
I hate seeing people in these types of subs just so absolutely sure of something they know absolutely nothing about.
There are tons of tiny homes in my county, many of them sitting right next to an house. I asked someone who worked for the county, I can even have then haul in gravel for free if I wanted to put one on my property.
Forget about the people telling you about code violations and theft of utilities etc. There might be code violations but reporting them is more about causing problems for the landlord than actually solving your situation.
For you it all comes down to the lease. If that covers the entire property, then you have the right to the “quiet enjoyment” of that property. Exclusively. Regardless of who owns it. The property owner would still have certain rights (and obligations) regarding the property but not to the point that they can put a new dwelling on the property and essential force you to have a “roommate.” If the lease covers the entire property, you can take them to court and enforce the lease, and probably get damages.
All that said, you’re a renter with a lease. The property owner can refuse to renew the lease or renew under different terms. So if your lease is a year you probably don’t have much more time on that property no matter what you do. You can choose to cause a lot of problems for the property owner, or go quietly, but you probably should start looking for a new place to live and treat their work on the property as a breach, and leave ASAP.
When I was a broke student I would have left in this situation. But these days I'd pay to fight this in court, just for the principle of it. I also don't care that it's a family member, as those are the people most likely to abuse and disrespect you. Taking them all the way and reaching into their pockets is a great way to tell the whole family not to f with you, ever.
I would question if the septic tank can handle the additional house. I sure as heck wouldn’t pay utilities for added home either. Especially not something rented to college students. They aren’t always the brightest.
I would check zoning laws & permits. Pretty sure they would need to have an occupancy permit to rent out the other house.
I would also start looking for a new place to live.
I don’t know where you live, but where I live there are a lot of permits needed to update/change a septic system and it needs to be tested afterwards. They would also have to get permits about the electrical changes. I would call the town/county agency responsible for building permits and see if this is being doing legitimately.
The one address - two dwellings should point you in the right direction. He needs city/county approval to subdivide the lot and that would give him two addresses.
I’m sure your lease says what you’re renting. Such as a 4 br 3 bath , 2,200 square foot dwelling on 2 acres of land which TENANT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE for maintaining. So you’re supposed to care for tiny houses outside too? I doubt they’d have a lawn mower as students in a tiny house. College students with novelty housing like a tiny home are going to have lots of company maybe parties to show it off! Do they have any yard? Certainly LL will need to make a lot for them. Like 10’ on all sides. Where will they park?
But I doubt OP's lease has the address as 123-A Main St. If OP's lease is for 123 Main, then OP has the exclusive use of the entire property, unless otherwise explicitly stated in the lease.
Around here it's a simple notification to the postal service that there is now an A and B to the address. My point is, at least here, you don't have to create a whole new lot to have different mailing addresses on one parcel, regardless of the current address situation. It's pretty simple here. Part of the lease aspect is if it doesn't say it one way or the other specially then OP is in a grey area. No one here can say what's what with this. They need to reach out to their local relevant authorities. Around here all this would be legal.
It’s the same here, you don’t have to make it separate plots. Apartments are on one lot with 50 different addresses. We have a lot of duplexes that have two addresses but are one lot (and property). Even situations like this one that have a separate unit on the property but it’s still one property. I just looked at one a few weeks ago and it was only one lot for sale but two units. The landlord should be giving them a separate mailbox though
OP is just one biased version of the facts. They were even privy to knowing a tiny house was getting put on the land, they're not going to know pretty much all other details either.
She said she is non-confrontational. She also said she didn't know the LL was going to put a tiny house on the property until it just showed up, and that LL had given approval for her to put a garden in that area.
Once the tiny house was there, her didn't know what her options really were; that's why she's posting here. She also didn't know her LL was going to tie her septic system into the new tiny house's system until the work was being done.
All posts on social media are biased and you only get one side of the story. You have to respond based on what any OP says.
Being a non-confrontational person isn't an excuse to not have a conversation with the only relevant person to this situation. Advise and opinions can't be accurately formed on such limited information. Making changes to the septic isn't something a tenant needs to know about anyway. The only thing is that it would be courteous to know workers are coming but they're not inside the house so it's not required to notify. Having a shared septic doesn't affect the tenant, it's not like they pay a bill for it. OP just needs to read the fine print of the lease to see if anything is being violated and talk with their housing authority if they feel it's needed. Laws and leases vary too greatly to know what the issue is or isn't here.
Yeah let me get my landlord to log in to my account and give you their side of the story.
You're free to ask any questions you like but I guess you would rather just assume you know more to the story...?
Honestly, the relative is playing the "We're family" card expecting to get away with the fact they are violating the terms of the lease.
Beware that any action you take will come with familial back lash.
I would talk to them first if you care about family ties.
Tennant advocacy groups are a good step, if you've got the budget, a lawyer would be wise however you can connect with one.
Without reading your lease, assuming standard terms, you're absolutely right that all of this is a no no. Typically notice rules for leases are interpreted as going inside the house. Unless the landlord waived the right, they're generally not going to be viewed as trespassing for doing things to the outside of the property. But this is miles different from popping by to make sure the lawn isn't overgrown.
The problem here is, there isnt a specific or straightforward remedy. Rent reduction would be reasonable, but its not like theres a standardized reduction for when your landlord plops another house in your yard, so you two would have to come to an agreement.
I would certainly consider the landlord to be in breach of lease with these facts. Early termination without penalty is very realistic, but unless you two can come to an agreement, it would be wise to have a professional draft that letter in case things go sideways.
It depends on whether you want to stay cordial with your family member. I would think about breaking the lease and moving since the property you signed the lease first has significantly been altered.
You can probably anticipate a lot if parties and noise if it will be a student rental as well.
This is my take as well. Best to politely tell landlord that you don’t feel comfortable sharing the property and ask to break the lease without penalty considering that they are changing the condition of the property.
A house or a toolshed? And the family member owns the property, but to add house, has to have permits to build one. And has to contact the USPS for the address for the mail. Get with an attorney. Good luck.
A perfect illustration as to why renting from family members is to be avoided.
How long is left on your lease? They already broke it with these changes , so let them know you’ll be leaving. No hard feelings.
Find a place and move out. If they attempt to come after you, you have more than enough to defend yourself in court.
But, it will be them that starts the court crap, not you. The family will see you as the “good guy” if you care about it.
Yes, they are prol in violation of all sorts of crap, but don’t get dragged into it.
Get the hell out. More crap will follow.
Likely this needs permits that weren’t taken. You could call code enforcement.
Really depends on what state if they care.
Either way - be prepared to move at the end of your lease if you complain, as the landlord won’t renew.
That depends on the county. In my area the power pole and the septic would have to be inspected but I could do whatever I wanted on my land.
If it is an old septic tank , that may be your out. If I do anything to mine, I would have to upgrade to a Clearwater system.
Speak with a lawyer. IMMEDIATELY. They are screwing you over and hoping you just won’t step up and fight about it because if you do this is a slam dunk.
Also: every tenant here should create a little list of bastards to avoid. A black list of landlords you know to be so amoral and scum filled that they are too much of a risk to trust on a basic level. Add every landlord on here arguing this shit is acceptable.
You'll definitely need to at least consult with a lawyer to determine what rights you may have.
However, i's not your property, it's the landlord's property.
My guess is your lease is for exclusive use of the house. It may not specify the overall property.
Many jurisdictions are loosening restrictions on putting up ADUs to encourage affordable housing. Based on the significance of the work you describe, the landlord would need to pull permits to legally put a tiny house on the parcel. You could check to be sure they've pulled permits. If not, you have significantly more leverage.
Reason number 4,902 why you never do business with family or friends. Unfortunately your relationship with this relative will never be the same. They obviously don't give a shit about your feelings, so it's time to quit trying to be the bigger person.
In a perfect world you'd be able to contact your town's zoning department, code enforcement, the postal inspector, or even the police to help you. Your landlord is clearly violating your rights to quiet enjoyment of the property, but in this case I think your best option is to move as soon as possible. I would start with a visit to an attorney who specializes in landlord/tenant law because it sounds like you'd have a strong case to get your relative to pay all your relocation expenses.
I wonder how squatters rights would work in this situation. Both for your dwelling and the tiny home on the property leased to you. Your family could be making a huge mess for themselves. They could be giving a college student free lodging for many years.
Another thought since it is a structure on the land you are leasing. And no restrictions exist on your lease agreement for you using the tiny home. Could you just “move” in there as well and call the cops on anyone trying to enter both the tiny home and the property for trespassing? Would your lease agreement stand over theirs?
And how does this work for your renter’s insurance? What a mess.
Personally, I would find somewhere else to live. That family member knows that you will keep the property nice and they are making money off of you while they grow their reoccurring revenue and asset value.
Concerning the new tenant because you are family they will use it as a psychological control over the tiny home tenant to behave because you will rat them out.
Unless these family members are helping you with a rent to own or helping you stabilize a permanent dwelling for your future they are using you. This situation will end poorly for you because you have no long term control of the situation and they already are showing signs of disregard for your expectations.
Don’t be caught off guard when they make a decision about the property that is negatively life changing for you and you have no control over the situation.
And I am speaking from witnessed experience within my family.
It's a one-year lease that ends in August. Based on feedback here and elsewhere I'll probably just make my point to my landlord and try to get reduced rent. Whether that works or not, I'll go ahead and move when it's over
I would call the town or county permitting or zoning depts. In my county a new structure over 20 sq ft would require a permit. Even more importantly digging up septic for new connections requires it's own separate permit and may even be illegal to add a dwelling onto it, because septic systems are permitted for use based on the occupancy size and number of bathrooms of the house. The county/town may just put a stop to this for you with no cost to you.
Are you month to monthy or on an annual lease?
Get an attorney, you aren't going to resolve this any other way. Lawyer can tell you whether or not the owner can do it, state laws vary and we can't see the entirety of your lease.
Have you tried having a conversation with them ? I’m sure you can afford to find a better place that’s cheaper right now? They should definitely let you out of the lease since this is all such an inconvenience for you . I had a similar situation with my brothers and I just didn’t continue the lease and held off on renovations until they left
Dude your family sounds like $ grubbing assholes. I would look into the legality of them doing this. Fire codes come into play. Can you even rent someone a tiny house? The whole thing sounds completely ridiculous lol
I highly doubt it but I live in the middle of nowhere so that would take a while. To be honest I don't really want to get them in trouble - I just wanted to consider what my rights are so we could negotiate either a) not moving anyone there until our lease expires, or b) if someone does move there, them reducing our rent or paying utilities, especially since we'd now be sharing utilities with a stranger.
I'd suggest talking to your landlord ASAP. Sounds like they're overstepping big time. You've got rights as a tenant, and they can't just do whatever they want without your consent. If they won't listen, maybe look into legal advice. Your lease should protect you, so make sure you know your rights before you bring it up with them.
If you need any help in this case or wish to talk to other landlords in this regards, do consider joining r/LeaseLords and connect with other landlords there who put tenants first.
You're in a tough spot. Sounds like your LL/Relative is trying to double up their income, which isn't a bad thing, however they way they are doing it seems suspect.
You need to evaluate possible outcomes and value of those results.
If the value of personal relationship is important, then look at moving and end the business relationship to preserve the personal.
If the opposite is true, and your lease has specific language describing the property, and your use of it, then you may be able to pursue for breach of contract or damages.
Either option ends the business relationship. You may get a few bucks out of option 2, but I don't know if it will be worth the cost.
I would just call the county or city and report it anonymously. At a minimum there would be hoops for your landlord to jump through that would take a long time. If that doesn’t work and you don’t want to make Thanksgiving weird go to your landlord and explain the situation and see if he’ll just let you out of the lease. If that doesn’t work then go to a lawyer and go nuclear. You are in the right but it’s complicated by family being involved so I encourage you to be pragmatic about it.
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I think you are in a lose/lose situation. You are 100 per cent right but at some point, your landlord/family member will not renew your lease. To share utilities and the septic tank, he decided to make the tiny house close to the main dwelling. There is nothing right about what the LL is doing but fighting him is only going to get you a few months of privacy.
The LL is in breach. Your lease doesn't include just the house. It includes the entire parcel. He can't put a tiny house there without getting you to agree to a change in the lease. You aren't just renting the house you're renting the *land.* Unless the lease specifies he can make major improvements to the land, he can't legally do this.
You should consult with an attorney. The tiny house is already there so your privacy is gone. My recommendation is you look elsewhere for a place to rent. You need an attorney to help you break the lease because your family member is in breach. Or to force him to restore the property to its previous condition if you are going to stay there until the lease ends (at which time he'll end the lease and force you to move anyway).
Now you could check with your county and see if your LL got permits for what he did. If he didn't, they might make him remove the house. Also check with the utilities and demand separate meters or you will be paying for the new tenants electrical and water bills if you decide to stay there. But your relative will figure that out eventually and may move to get you out ... so again, you should start looking for a new place now.
Your relative is an idiot. Septic work is expensive. He could have caused the system to fail by digging it up; it might not be big enough for the number of people who will be using it. He's counting on your non-confrontational personality to get away with something he'd never get away with from a stranger.
NTA
And yeah, there are a lot of LLs on this sub. Some are nice, some are OK, some are jerks like everything else on Reddit. Many, like me, have been both tenants and LLs so we understand how the rules work better than many of the tenants who post questions here ... because tenants who post here ask questions because they don't understand what their rights and responsibilities actually are. While some posters here don't like the LLs, its because often they are told things they don't want to hear.
ignore the idiots who just say "talk to a lawyer". They know nothing so that's what they say as if it's somehow intelligent commentary.
Practically speaking, your option is to move out. The landlord has broken the lease in many ways. So I would move out, demand full deposit back and if one dollar is missing, sue for maximum damages and legal fees.
On the way out, I would call the county department of building and safety, along with the utility companies to tell them about the illegal construction.
Now who's the idiot? No lawyer will take a case that won't make them any money. That means small claims court. She won't get enough for it to be worth while.
Talking to an attorney may uncover other options.
No, just like I don't own a leased car but would still be pissed if the dealership removed one of the seats mid-term. I got so many comments like these, I'm not sure if all of you are landlords or just bots? Either way, there is a hive-mind situation happening.
You got a few options here.
1)suck it up and deal with it. Because it's a rental that you pay to live in, not to own.
2)cause problems and be huffy and sweaty. Cause that ALWAYS ends up well when leade renewal comes around.
Whichever you chose, I really don't care.
As some have said you have to see what you lease specifies. In my leases I specify that I am only renting the apartment to my tenant. The hallways outside the apartment are mine. The backyard is mine. The driveway is mine. Obviously they have to use the hallway to get to their unit but they are in no way required to maintain it. I do allow them to use the backyard and driveway but there lease does not make them entitled to it.
You keep saying your house. This is not your house you are renting it. Your landlord is allowed to dig up the septic tank if he wants to on his property. Being given notice applies to accessing personal areas that you live in.
You are required to mow the lawn because you agreed to those terms. My bfs landlord tried throwing that into his lease and my bf let him know he wasn’t having it.
We're not talking about an apartment. I've rented many houses. When you rent a house, the tenant is required by the lease to maintain the grounds. Hers happen to be 2 acres, but she still has to maintain it.
Sure her LL can dig up the septic tank. He still has to follow state law in doing so.
Call the county & ask “how many buildings are to be on this parcel, inform them there’ a building being plumbed in/electrical added/septic junction into the existing house & you’re not sure if this is being legally done with permits.”
OP you’re stating all of these issues that would be valid if it was your property, but it’s not. The plumbers seemingly didn’t enter the house, so I don’t believe a notice period really applies. The lease states your rental is just for you and your wife…it still is.
The landlord should have communicated with you better and stated their intentions, but I don’t think they’re necessarily violating your lease.
If you’re not happy with the situation, the best course of action is probably to move. Otherwise if you want to play dirty, investigate the zoning laws and regulations for your exact location (they can be different parcel to parcel). What’s allowed to be there? Did your landlord go through the city and amend the zoning if multiple dwelling units weren’t already legal? Also, keep in mind that parcel data isn’t updated online immediately.
After looking into it, if you find the additional dwelling unit isn’t allowed then report it to the city anonymously and they’ll stop any work that’s being performed and prohibit anyone from inhabiting the other unit.
Clause 5 on our lease: *The premises shall be used exclusively as a residence for 2 persons.*
Clause 10: *Tenant shall irrigate and maintain any surrounding grounds, including lawn and shrubbery, and keep the same clear of rubbish or weeds, if such grounds are a part of the premises and are exclusively for the use of the Tenant.*
I've been expected to tend to the lawn and surrounding area since moving in, so only one could be true: 1. only the inside of the house is being rented, therefore I should cease mowing immediately, or 2. the outside of the property is also part of the lease, therefore I should continue. If 2 is true, then we should look at Clause 12:
*Owner shall have the right to enter the premises: (a) in case of emergency; (b) to make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, or alterations, improvements, supply necessary or agreed services, or exhibit the premises to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workmen, or contractors; (c) when tenant has abandoned or surrendered the premises. Except under (a) and (c), entry may not be made other than during normal business hours, and without not less than 48 hours prior notice to Tenant.*
Therefore whether or not the crawlspace of the house is inside the house or not, it is part of the premises, and I have the right to be notified if someone is going to be there except in case of emergency. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though, that's why I made the post.
How is ‘premises’ defined? It’s even possible it wasn’t explicitly defined or the LL has muddied the waters between the rental unit and the grounds by using premises incorrectly or inconsistently.
You can definitely talk with your LL and express that you believe notice should have been given. And yes, you can probably use all of this to stop doing the yard work and even pay less rent.
You’re caught up with contractual things (which is valid, don’t misunderstand my intentions). With your lease in hand, you can try and reason with the LL and point out continuity errors or how terms are being broken and try to renegotiate them. But in my opinion, there’s no way that tiny home is moving without ‘force’.
Those options of force are pretty limited to my suggestion of city regulations, or court. Court will be very expensive and I could be wrong, but I don’t know if awarding attorneys fees would apply in this case. Maybe it would…but until you win you’ll have to pay out of pocket and even spend months after the fact trying to collect on a judgement.
I think after picking apart your agreement you may have a lot of negotiating power to amend the terms, but I’d temper your expectations to the fact that the additional home will likely stay. If that’s ultimately not okay, then find a better place.
That's a good question - normally in a legal document you'd have a forward that defines things like "tenant", "premises", etc, but in this case the template they downloaded off the internet didn't have one.
Given the clause about upkeeping the premises (mowing, weed eating, etc) and him explicitly noting that clause and asking me to mow, would lead me to believe that the "premises" include the lawn and surrounding area (since it says I would only be responsible for this work *if* the premises include grounds to upkeep).
But in the end you're totally right. To be honest I don't have any intention of going to court or even threatening it. I was mostly looking for advice in terms of things to have leverage on so we could negotiate rent down, they could start paying for the now-shared utilities, or we could be given some other concession other than "here's your new neighbor, have fun splitting utilities and mail". The best-case scenario for me now would be those negotiations; not threatening court and having to pack all my stuff and move when my lease ends.
Thank you for all the advice!
You should report this to the county because the odds are he doesn’t have any permits to do this.
You should also talk to an attorney to see what your rights are. I’m pretty sure your landlord is taking advantage of the fact that you related thinking that you won’t complain about anything
So much wrong in this whole situation. Your family (landlord) is bypassing so many laws it is not even funny just to save him money so he can make more money.
The way I read clause 10, this lets you off of all maintenance of the grounds.
Clause 10: Tenant shall irrigate and maintain any surrounding grounds, including lawn and shrubbery, and keep the same clear of rubbish or weeds, "IF" such grounds are a part of the premises and are exclusively for the use of the Tenant.
Since it will not be for your exclusive use, you don't need to do the work. That's a big "IF" in there.
Check with a lawyer. If he can’t rent out the small house because you are in control of the entire property. Let him finish then prevent him from letting anyone move in unless you receive rent reduction.
Call the city offices to see if a second home on the property was permitted?
The water might be from a well, but if not, who's paying the water bill? Who's paying the gas and electric bill?
How much are they discounting your rent to compensate for the intrusion? What about student parties?
Is there parking areas for extra vehicles?
I know it's a hassle, but I'd start looking for other rental options.
That septic system is for the house. Adding another structure that utilizes the septic will cause more frequent needs to be emptied. The zoning probably stipulates the size approved for the land without the other structure.
You call the town, if there is such a thing, and report it, if it's not permissible. If it were not a family member, you could have/should have told the owner that you had the entire property leased, and that they could not do this. But you didn't say a word, and now it doesn't seem right to fight it after he's done it. Give notice, and look for someplace else to move to. If he complains about your breaking the lease, tell him that he has violated the terms of the lease himself, and that you'll stay to finish out the term if he stops and puts everything back the way it was, including the lawn.
I did say that we need to talk about this and we need to get a new agreement in writing, but that was a week ago and I haven't heard anything since. He agreed with me and said we could talk about negotiating rent, but then he said he didn't feel like it should be such a big deal. I mostly made this post to figure out what leverage I could use, or what grounds I can stand on in our next discussion about it. Thank you for the advice!
Start looking for a new place to live if you’re going to fight it out with your family. They are changing the terms of the lease and you can do what you want to do with that. Speak to them renegotiate the lease terms and go from there. But get ready to move on.
Yeah, already in that process. I moved back here from out of state last year and I'm planning on just moving right back. I wanted to stay here longer but since I don't feel like looking for an apartment just to stay here until the end of the year, I'm just gonna go ahead and move states again.
Oh, and remember the adage of never doing business with family
Imagine this: you buy a first-class plane ticket with assigned seating. Halfway through the flight, the CEO of the airline shits in your seat and cuts it in half. Are you mad? Why? Do you own that seat? Do you own the plane?
Usually if there are two dwellings being lived in full time requires two separate addresses for E911. We live in the country and had a mobile home placed by our house and the county required a separate address. The power company would not set up power without. We do share water but this is an ADU situation for us (extra living space for guests). It has its own mailbox, it's own septic and permitted by county and state fire marshall.
It seems like your landlord is trying to do some very shady stuff. You usually can’t place a house like that down without permits from the city/county. So look into notifying the city/county about it. Also get a lawyer because there is a decent chance that your landlord violated the lease by putting the new house there. Since it seems like the premises is the whole property. And someone can’t just put a new house on that property without the city/county knowing about it. And keep in mind. I Am Not A Lawyer.
As someone who owns property similar to your rental in rural southern US (AL specifically), you have two choices. Move, or hire a lawyer and burn a family bridge while it takes years to clear the legal system.
Our across the “street” neighbor plopped a tiny home down and did all the proper permits and procedures that a city would require. The guy behind us threw down 2 full manufactured homes by himself, rigging electricity and water, no foundation, and it looks like something out of deliverance country. No one batted an eye until his septic spilled into the local waterway and the civil corps of engineers don’t play around. Otherwise he would have been fine.
You have two issues here. Doing business with family, and doing business in a rural unregulated area. And seeing how you stated that you’re paying above comp for more hassle and less freedom, I think you have your answer.
ETA- If it goes to court it could be argued that they broke and changed terms of lease without warning or proper addendums and he’s not going to look great. At most it’ll give you the legal right to break the lease without penalty but don’t expect recompense.
Speak with an attorney. However, I own rental houses also. And please understand that a landlord can give you an eviction notice if it's necessary to do needed work on this property. Now, they also have to give you the legal time frame allowed. Also, understand (not trying to upset you) this property is not yours. And it's not like a lease on a car. In fact, if the landlord has a mortgage on it, then it's not legally owned by the landlord! A bank can demand to be paid for the loan in X days! Seriously, consult with an attorney, but in the long run, the landlord will win this.
Really depends on your local laws, specifics of your rental agreement, etc. Since you are renting from a relative did you skip a written agreement?
If your written agreement specifies you were renting the whole 2 acres, you might have a chance to fight it.
However local laws and the content of rental agreements often vary. Some of the boilerplate online ones are more for apartments and might say you have no claim to common areas implying there could be multiple units.
Contact a lawyer. They will understand all the details in the lease agreement better than you will. Don't wait for anymore damage to be done to the property
Why in the hell would you make material upgrades to someone else’s property? You’re trying to be a property owner while renting. Sounds like you need to go get your own place.
Making a garden would be a material upgrade to their property. Even if you get everything for free, it’s still your labor and it’ll still increase the property value that isn’t yours. Maybe it’s a small one so who really cares, but if I was renting I’d still do some kind of non-permanent gardening so it’s potentially transferable if you move.
It wouldn't have been a massive permanent garden, just a simple raised bed with some scrap wood to grow through this season. But I understand your sentiment. I was originally gonna be living here for more than just a year but clearly not (and that space is no longer available) do now I won't be.
Like many others said definitely check with municipality and confirm what’s going on is legal with septic and tiny house. Even if it is legal landlord probably voided/violated the lease with you. You rented a secluded house on 2 acres not a house on top of another house that’s going to be rented to college kids. At the very minimum they’d have to do a lease amendment with terms you agree to.
Go to the city planning and permits office in your area, ask them if there are permits for the water line, power line, and septic line being run on the property you rent, also ask if there is any ordinances supporting or against a tiny home being added to the property, tell them your address, let the inspectors handle the rest, if he didn't pull permits he's screwed big time.
The landlord (likely) broke the terms of the lease. They are not going to stop. Unfortunately, given the complete lack of communication, I think your best option is moving.
Give your landlord a call and negotiate an exit. I think it would be reasonable to mutually end the lease and for them to give you a month or two free rent in compensation for the hassle of an unplanned move. In addition, you will need to be informed of major construction that impacts your home’s systems (ie water or electricity shut offs) or that might be in the way of your moving efforts (i.e. anyone parked in your driveway). You’ll want to draw up a lease amendment and it would not hurt to get it notarized.
If they refuse to negotiate, tell them you will be contacting an attorney and checking permits with the governing entity. The threat will likely be enough to encourage negotiations.
Based on your edits, my thinking is that you have leased the premises for the duration of the lease. That would be the entire plot of land and its improvements. Time to hire a local RE attorney and have them advise you further.
1st thing you do is call the zoning and permit offices and make a concerned citizen report of a possibly illegal building and septic work happening on the property.
Then you plan to start looking for other housing and inform your relatives that since they're breaking the lease terms, you're gonna relocate.
If you want to know your options, spend a couple hundred bucks to consult a lawyer who is familiar with local law.
You should probably start looking for a new place.
Health department needs to be notified. To install an additional septic system, there must be enough space and 100% reserve area is required. The reserve is important in case that system fails years down the road. In 30 or 40 years, if a septic system fails and a new system is needed, that new system can be installed in the designated reserve area. You need to find out how much additional septic area is needed for the new unit, which depends on the total number of bedrooms in both homes. The two units must feed into one line for waste.
There is a min square footage of living space for every town in the US contact your town code enforcement office and report them where I'm at ( a little Podunk town ) it's 1200 sq ft and these "tiny home" ppl go outside of city limits to unincorporated places to put these things up and then charge up to 1300 a month for them it's a total rip off
I genuinely was supportive of you until your edit calling people who provided feedback you didn't like 'landlords'.
You sound entitled and now my suspicion is your landlord is well within the lines of your lease and the law. You're likely leaving out important information, but again, check to see if permits were pulled and/or consult a lawyer. Good luck with your new neighbor.
More like you are calling the movie theater lobby "my lobby".
I would object to the situation you are experiencing, too. Hopefully the lease is in your favor, but the OP is written in language as if you own the property. You may have leverage based on that, but only until the lease expires, at which point you can expect it to not be renewed.
(And I'm a tenant, BTW.)
I'm not sure what you mean. The second sentence in my post mentions the fact that I'm renting. And why is it more akin to calling a movie theater lobby "my lobby"? In the analogy, the movie ticket is a lease, which grants exclusive use of something for a time. I'm not claiming to own a whole apartment complex because I rented 1 apartment
Read your lease and/or consult with a lawyer to see what your rights are. It's entirely plausible you don't have exclusive rights to the property written in the lease. You might, but we haven't seen your lease.
Enjoy your new neighbor.
In English, we have colloquial terms and literal terms. For example, saying "my seat" in a movie theater doesn't imply you'll rip the chair out of the aisle and take it home. But it does mean you'd be pissed if someone else sat down in it, or, decided to saw it in half while you're watching the movie. Much like a lease, when I say "my house", I don't mean I own it now, just that I have exclusive use of it.
In English, we have colloquial terms and literal terms. For example, saying "my seat" in a movie theater doesn't imply you'll rip the chair out of the aisle and take it home. But it does mean you'd be pissed if someone else sat down in it, or, decided to saw it in half while you're watching the movie. Much like a lease, when I say "my house", I don't mean I own it now, just that I have exclusive use of it.
I'm not bothered when a tenant says "my apartment". They rent a whole apartment. They don't just show up at night and grab any bunk in the building that's available.
If I buy a premium assigned seat at a concert or on an airplane, it's normal to say "my seat".
But you'd have to see what your rental agreement says about defining the "premises" that you rent. And take any rent control (or lack thereof) considerations into account in deciding how aggressively to pursue this.
I say my house while renting. It's my house while I live here. I even tell the landlord when calling, my toilet, my sink, etc. He calls it mine as well.
When you rent property to someone, you give up the right to use that property for your own purposes for the duration of the agreement. What makes someone think that their landlord can't do what they want on their own property is the landlord's agreement to temporarily cede those rights in exchange for money.
Ownership and control are separate things. If you want to maintain control of your property, don't lease it to a tenant.
When you rent a house you are actually renting the full property. The landlord is permitted to install improvements, but they need to abide by notice requirements and cannot just move someone else into the property as well—it’s the same as if I were renting a full 2-bedroom and the landlord decided to lease out the other bedroom bc I wasn’t using it.
In English, we have colloquial terms and literal terms. For example, saying "my seat" in a movie theater doesn't imply you'll rip the chair out of the aisle and take it home. But it does mean you'd be pissed if someone else sat down in it, or, decided to saw it in half while you're watching the movie. Much like a lease, when I say "my house", I don't mean I own it now, just that I have exclusive use of it.
A) Like I said, it says that me and my wife have "exclusive use of the premises"
B) In English, we have colloquial terms and literal terms. For example, saying "my seat" in a movie theater doesn't imply you'll rip the chair out of the aisle and take it home. But it does mean you'd be pissed if someone else sat down in it, or, decided to saw it in half while you're watching the movie. Much like a lease, when I say "my house", I don't mean I own it now, just that I have exclusive use of it.
They can call it their space ship if they want to. It's still their rental, it's not their house. If it was their house they could have a say in if the septic system is dug up or not.
Lots of tiny house issues with zoning and whether infill (multiple dwellings on a lot) is allowed. Plus whether the septic tank /ainfield as set up / the perkability of the soil will support an extra toilet / grey water. And permits.
Did city / county planning come out? Were permits pulled / posted?
I got a phone call last week from my relative saying they "lucked up" and came across a deal on a tiny house. Then 30 minutes later it was in my front yard.
The only other people I've seen over here were the plumbers under my house - something tells me the county/city won't be coming out here.
Haha! That took me a few seconds. But yeah, regardless of what happens I have a newfound lack of trust in my family. I think I'll take the pacifist route and just move at the end of it. I already voiced my concerns but I think the best bet is to just move and never do business with family again.
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You would need to speak with a lawyer and have them see what your lease specifically states about the use of the property.
Some of these other suggestions are completely brainless, this is the way. When you sign a lease, if it says you can use the full property then you get the full property for the duration of the lease unless you both agree to amend the terms. This is the gentlest option if it’s a family member you don’t want to burn. Another angle is you can see if they pulled permits. You can easily check these in public record. I’d be blown away if they are pulling permits for all this considering how unprofessional they sound but you can’t just add a structure and move a septic tank without permits. If they get caught doing un-permitted work then it’s a bad day for their plans.
I can't even imagine how heavy the fine is for putting in a septic tank without the proper permits. The level of inspection required when putting a addition to a sewer main in a city system is rigorous. They MAKE sure you have enough threads down the bolt and will make you start completely over if it won't tighten enough A septic tank on what I'm assuming is rural land is gonna be even more heavily over sighted. The eco damage of you don't cure the concrete right and it starts leaking into the soil, the arborist will come after you if you put it anywhere that risks killing a adult tree via root damage, the animal conservation people are going to have a field day with your checkbook if even one single dead lizard or small animal is found and you happened to have dug through one of its home areas. Guys fucked if he didn't get septic permits
The property already has a septic system. He's adding the tiny house to an existing system. However, he still needs permits to do this work and he can fuck up the system if the plumbers don't know what they are doing, or if the current system can't handle the additional people who are adding to it. This could cause the system to fail entirely, requiring a costly replacement. That means a new perc test, digging up the old system and filling it with concrete so it does not become a hazard, then digging a new system sized for the number of people expected to live on the property. It might require a new leach field. A lot depends on how old the previous system is. My septic system is 75 years old. A previous owner DIY'd a sump pump connecting to it a few years ago ... no permit. I've had two plumbers look at it, because when the ground is oversaturated with rain it causes a backwash that lets sewer odors into the house. Both plumbers told me not to mess with it. I could make the problem worse, though I suspect they just don't want to deal with the sewage and the possibility of liability in regards to my system. So I either have to live with it (have for the past 3 years) or do the work myself and pray I don't eff it up. I'm probably going to do something about it this summer, once the ground dries out. Never mess with a septic system without good reason. The LL in this case should have installed a separate system.
That would depend on state and county. I have rental in different counties in different states, where inspections and permits aren't a thing.
Yeah I live in the middle of nowhere in the South. There may be regulations surrounding this stuff but I guarantee no one cares.
I also live in the middle of nowhere in the south but code enforcement in my county is by the book. Like make me tear down an exterior wall with chimney after I had repaired and replaced it to ensure distance from combustible materials when I even had measures photos of the process. In my county you can only have 1 residence per parcel and no shared septic, though you can have shared well. Definitely worth looking into.
I live in the middle of nowhere, in the south. I promise you they care. Small, middle of nowhere, in the south towns are dying out and don't have much in the way of funding coming in anymore. They want whatever they are able to get. Unpermitted building will definitely be cared about, moreso if you're planning to sale or rent.
Oh I garauntee you they do, call deq or whoever deals with septic in your state...they take septic shit very seriously, I recently replaced the drain field on my system, had to pay for permit snd hsd to have deq come and inspect before I could backfill...I promise..make a phone call, rhey care A LOT
True
Reddit seems to have a hard time understanding this point. I have a house in a rural area and we can do pretty much anything there without a permit. When I bought it I installed a new roof, new electric, removed a wall inside, and re-plumbed the house with zero permits required. The flip side is the hose I live in is located in the city. I need a permit to put a new hat water tank in or add outlets.
I live in a municipality where all the neighbors were concerned why I even bothered to get permits. Plus lots of the permits were cheap compared to getting the equivalent closer to the city center.
You can do that if it’s in the county. Sounds like this may be outside of city limits. Maybe other states have ordinances outside of the cities but here, in the county it’s every man for himself. You can put a trailer or a tiny house or an outhouse or a pile of rusted out cars in your front yard and nobody can do anything. You can do your own septic work, add or remove meters… whatever you want.
I'd ask 211 for Pro bono Legal Aid
Strings words together without understanding their meaning…
Jumbo soup basketball pirate!
Star flyer sister pansy
This would be a great option, but I suspect it is not readily available where OP is located. A remote (online) lawyer should be reasonable and convenient.
Legal aide does not do Pro Bono if the person has money. You have to be broke for them to take on a case.
They can refer you to clinics and legal hotlines still. They can also provide advice depending on the circumstances and there are different income guidelines depending on the location and grants available for that specific legal issue.
Sharing a mailbox can be a sign that the situation is not legal. USPS would need to determine the address for the new unit.
Yeah, this is not legal. A landlord cannot force you to share where you receive mail with another person.
OP, pursuing this angle is how you are going to get out of this, either by shutting down what the landlord is attempting to do and continuing to rent, or being able to get out of your lease without penalty. I’d shoot for the latter as the relationship will be damaged after pursuing legal action. Do you have a tenants rights committee in your town?
Also check with the town - what they’re doing might not be legal from a zoning perspective either.
Oh, it's almost certainly patently illegal. You have to get permits to put any new structure on something and many jurisdictions have ordinances prohibiting multi family living on one parcel, even MIL type units like this.
There are some parcels of land that are “unrestricted” and don’t require permits except for septic for example. It varies by state and county. There are 3,143 different counties in the US.
Considering a tiny house usually doesn’t have a foundation, it’s unlikely you’ll need a permit. It’s a rural area (septic tank) so likely very little is permitted, and doubtful there’s an ordinance against multi family living if it’s rural. So hard to “almost certainly” when there’s not even information and it’s not at all illegal in many areas.
Lots of tiny houses are on foundations. You would definately need a permit for one with a foundation. I do get that in rural areas people do lots of things without permits. My house was built in 1950 and lots of work was done without permits. But there are zoning laws where I live and I cannot build a MIL unit and rent it out without zoning approval.
I hate seeing people in these types of subs just so absolutely sure of something they know absolutely nothing about. There are tons of tiny homes in my county, many of them sitting right next to an house. I asked someone who worked for the county, I can even have then haul in gravel for free if I wanted to put one on my property.
Tony homes are usually on a trailer just like an RV and don't need a permit but there may be local rules
Forget about the people telling you about code violations and theft of utilities etc. There might be code violations but reporting them is more about causing problems for the landlord than actually solving your situation. For you it all comes down to the lease. If that covers the entire property, then you have the right to the “quiet enjoyment” of that property. Exclusively. Regardless of who owns it. The property owner would still have certain rights (and obligations) regarding the property but not to the point that they can put a new dwelling on the property and essential force you to have a “roommate.” If the lease covers the entire property, you can take them to court and enforce the lease, and probably get damages. All that said, you’re a renter with a lease. The property owner can refuse to renew the lease or renew under different terms. So if your lease is a year you probably don’t have much more time on that property no matter what you do. You can choose to cause a lot of problems for the property owner, or go quietly, but you probably should start looking for a new place to live and treat their work on the property as a breach, and leave ASAP.
When I was a broke student I would have left in this situation. But these days I'd pay to fight this in court, just for the principle of it. I also don't care that it's a family member, as those are the people most likely to abuse and disrespect you. Taking them all the way and reaching into their pockets is a great way to tell the whole family not to f with you, ever.
I would question if the septic tank can handle the additional house. I sure as heck wouldn’t pay utilities for added home either. Especially not something rented to college students. They aren’t always the brightest. I would check zoning laws & permits. Pretty sure they would need to have an occupancy permit to rent out the other house. I would also start looking for a new place to live.
I don’t know where you live, but where I live there are a lot of permits needed to update/change a septic system and it needs to be tested afterwards. They would also have to get permits about the electrical changes. I would call the town/county agency responsible for building permits and see if this is being doing legitimately.
The one address - two dwellings should point you in the right direction. He needs city/county approval to subdivide the lot and that would give him two addresses. I’m sure your lease says what you’re renting. Such as a 4 br 3 bath , 2,200 square foot dwelling on 2 acres of land which TENANT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE for maintaining. So you’re supposed to care for tiny houses outside too? I doubt they’d have a lawn mower as students in a tiny house. College students with novelty housing like a tiny home are going to have lots of company maybe parties to show it off! Do they have any yard? Certainly LL will need to make a lot for them. Like 10’ on all sides. Where will they park?
In my state you don't need that actually. The address just gets an A and a B added to the address like an appt and the mail is delivered accordingly.
A and B is a separate address
But I doubt OP's lease has the address as 123-A Main St. If OP's lease is for 123 Main, then OP has the exclusive use of the entire property, unless otherwise explicitly stated in the lease.
Around here it's a simple notification to the postal service that there is now an A and B to the address. My point is, at least here, you don't have to create a whole new lot to have different mailing addresses on one parcel, regardless of the current address situation. It's pretty simple here. Part of the lease aspect is if it doesn't say it one way or the other specially then OP is in a grey area. No one here can say what's what with this. They need to reach out to their local relevant authorities. Around here all this would be legal.
It’s the same here, you don’t have to make it separate plots. Apartments are on one lot with 50 different addresses. We have a lot of duplexes that have two addresses but are one lot (and property). Even situations like this one that have a separate unit on the property but it’s still one property. I just looked at one a few weeks ago and it was only one lot for sale but two units. The landlord should be giving them a separate mailbox though
Yeah it's quite simple. Not sure why everyone is making a big deal of that aspect.
I believe that IS what OP is saying. The tiny house now sits where their garden was supposed to be and she’d told the LL relative.
OP said it wouldn’t have a separate address.
OP is just one biased version of the facts. They were even privy to knowing a tiny house was getting put on the land, they're not going to know pretty much all other details either.
She said she is non-confrontational. She also said she didn't know the LL was going to put a tiny house on the property until it just showed up, and that LL had given approval for her to put a garden in that area. Once the tiny house was there, her didn't know what her options really were; that's why she's posting here. She also didn't know her LL was going to tie her septic system into the new tiny house's system until the work was being done. All posts on social media are biased and you only get one side of the story. You have to respond based on what any OP says.
Being a non-confrontational person isn't an excuse to not have a conversation with the only relevant person to this situation. Advise and opinions can't be accurately formed on such limited information. Making changes to the septic isn't something a tenant needs to know about anyway. The only thing is that it would be courteous to know workers are coming but they're not inside the house so it's not required to notify. Having a shared septic doesn't affect the tenant, it's not like they pay a bill for it. OP just needs to read the fine print of the lease to see if anything is being violated and talk with their housing authority if they feel it's needed. Laws and leases vary too greatly to know what the issue is or isn't here.
Yeah let me get my landlord to log in to my account and give you their side of the story. You're free to ask any questions you like but I guess you would rather just assume you know more to the story...?
Property manager CA. Before paying an attorney check with tenant advocacy in your area.
are you paying the utilities? utility theft is the angle i would go with
Yes, I pay all utilities currently
the power and water companies would be interested in this for a start
Honestly, the relative is playing the "We're family" card expecting to get away with the fact they are violating the terms of the lease. Beware that any action you take will come with familial back lash. I would talk to them first if you care about family ties.
Tennant advocacy groups are a good step, if you've got the budget, a lawyer would be wise however you can connect with one. Without reading your lease, assuming standard terms, you're absolutely right that all of this is a no no. Typically notice rules for leases are interpreted as going inside the house. Unless the landlord waived the right, they're generally not going to be viewed as trespassing for doing things to the outside of the property. But this is miles different from popping by to make sure the lawn isn't overgrown. The problem here is, there isnt a specific or straightforward remedy. Rent reduction would be reasonable, but its not like theres a standardized reduction for when your landlord plops another house in your yard, so you two would have to come to an agreement. I would certainly consider the landlord to be in breach of lease with these facts. Early termination without penalty is very realistic, but unless you two can come to an agreement, it would be wise to have a professional draft that letter in case things go sideways.
It depends on whether you want to stay cordial with your family member. I would think about breaking the lease and moving since the property you signed the lease first has significantly been altered. You can probably anticipate a lot if parties and noise if it will be a student rental as well.
This is my take as well. Best to politely tell landlord that you don’t feel comfortable sharing the property and ask to break the lease without penalty considering that they are changing the condition of the property.
Is this thing on wheels? Did they put some sort of foundation in? Is it considered permanent?
It's on concrete blocks
A house or a toolshed? And the family member owns the property, but to add house, has to have permits to build one. And has to contact the USPS for the address for the mail. Get with an attorney. Good luck.
May be illegal, tell 311/code enforcement
A perfect illustration as to why renting from family members is to be avoided. How long is left on your lease? They already broke it with these changes , so let them know you’ll be leaving. No hard feelings. Find a place and move out. If they attempt to come after you, you have more than enough to defend yourself in court. But, it will be them that starts the court crap, not you. The family will see you as the “good guy” if you care about it. Yes, they are prol in violation of all sorts of crap, but don’t get dragged into it. Get the hell out. More crap will follow.
You could go to the courthouse and make sure they got permits to do all that work.
If you are paying for utilites then there is a huge problem. Contact the county and an attorney.
Likely this needs permits that weren’t taken. You could call code enforcement. Really depends on what state if they care. Either way - be prepared to move at the end of your lease if you complain, as the landlord won’t renew.
Eventually your car insurance will find the person sharing your address and try to force you to add them to your policy, fyi.
Make an anonymous report to the town/city, what they’re doing sounds VERY illegal
That depends on the county. In my area the power pole and the septic would have to be inspected but I could do whatever I wanted on my land. If it is an old septic tank , that may be your out. If I do anything to mine, I would have to upgrade to a Clearwater system.
I’d start by anonymously rating him out to the county zoning commission. Nothing you described leads me to believe he has a single permit.
Speak with a lawyer. IMMEDIATELY. They are screwing you over and hoping you just won’t step up and fight about it because if you do this is a slam dunk. Also: every tenant here should create a little list of bastards to avoid. A black list of landlords you know to be so amoral and scum filled that they are too much of a risk to trust on a basic level. Add every landlord on here arguing this shit is acceptable.
You'll definitely need to at least consult with a lawyer to determine what rights you may have. However, i's not your property, it's the landlord's property. My guess is your lease is for exclusive use of the house. It may not specify the overall property. Many jurisdictions are loosening restrictions on putting up ADUs to encourage affordable housing. Based on the significance of the work you describe, the landlord would need to pull permits to legally put a tiny house on the parcel. You could check to be sure they've pulled permits. If not, you have significantly more leverage.
Reason number 4,902 why you never do business with family or friends. Unfortunately your relationship with this relative will never be the same. They obviously don't give a shit about your feelings, so it's time to quit trying to be the bigger person. In a perfect world you'd be able to contact your town's zoning department, code enforcement, the postal inspector, or even the police to help you. Your landlord is clearly violating your rights to quiet enjoyment of the property, but in this case I think your best option is to move as soon as possible. I would start with a visit to an attorney who specializes in landlord/tenant law because it sounds like you'd have a strong case to get your relative to pay all your relocation expenses.
[удалено]
I would review your lease for termination clause. You may start a fight and lose in the long run.
I wonder how squatters rights would work in this situation. Both for your dwelling and the tiny home on the property leased to you. Your family could be making a huge mess for themselves. They could be giving a college student free lodging for many years. Another thought since it is a structure on the land you are leasing. And no restrictions exist on your lease agreement for you using the tiny home. Could you just “move” in there as well and call the cops on anyone trying to enter both the tiny home and the property for trespassing? Would your lease agreement stand over theirs? And how does this work for your renter’s insurance? What a mess. Personally, I would find somewhere else to live. That family member knows that you will keep the property nice and they are making money off of you while they grow their reoccurring revenue and asset value. Concerning the new tenant because you are family they will use it as a psychological control over the tiny home tenant to behave because you will rat them out. Unless these family members are helping you with a rent to own or helping you stabilize a permanent dwelling for your future they are using you. This situation will end poorly for you because you have no long term control of the situation and they already are showing signs of disregard for your expectations. Don’t be caught off guard when they make a decision about the property that is negatively life changing for you and you have no control over the situation. And I am speaking from witnessed experience within my family.
I'd call the cops the second a moving truck pulled up "someone is trespassing on my property and trying to move into my she shed"
Is it a term lease or a month-to-month? Either way, there is a breach, but if you are month-to-month your remedies are limited.
It's a one-year lease that ends in August. Based on feedback here and elsewhere I'll probably just make my point to my landlord and try to get reduced rent. Whether that works or not, I'll go ahead and move when it's over
Tell them youll pay less rent proportional to the sq ft of land you just lost
I would call the town or county permitting or zoning depts. In my county a new structure over 20 sq ft would require a permit. Even more importantly digging up septic for new connections requires it's own separate permit and may even be illegal to add a dwelling onto it, because septic systems are permitted for use based on the occupancy size and number of bathrooms of the house. The county/town may just put a stop to this for you with no cost to you.
Renting from a family member and you want to get a lawyer? Just do him/ her a favor and move out. This isn’t gonna work for you
I didn't ask for a lawyer, but thank you for trying to help
Any type of, “I’m going to the county” thought process. Isn’t how you want to deal with this. Ether suck it up or leave
I didn't have that thought process? Do you think I left all the comments on this post? I think you're mistaking someone else's words for mine.
No, you just sound like an idiot. So I assumed your actions would reflect how you sound. But, it sounds like you sorted this out. Good for you.
You are so confused. But again, thank you for taking time out of your day and trying to help. Have a good weekend?
Are you month to monthy or on an annual lease? Get an attorney, you aren't going to resolve this any other way. Lawyer can tell you whether or not the owner can do it, state laws vary and we can't see the entirety of your lease.
Have you tried having a conversation with them ? I’m sure you can afford to find a better place that’s cheaper right now? They should definitely let you out of the lease since this is all such an inconvenience for you . I had a similar situation with my brothers and I just didn’t continue the lease and held off on renovations until they left
Dude your family sounds like $ grubbing assholes. I would look into the legality of them doing this. Fire codes come into play. Can you even rent someone a tiny house? The whole thing sounds completely ridiculous lol
You may want to see what your local code enforcement says - do they have permits and zoning clearances for what they’re doing?
I highly doubt it but I live in the middle of nowhere so that would take a while. To be honest I don't really want to get them in trouble - I just wanted to consider what my rights are so we could negotiate either a) not moving anyone there until our lease expires, or b) if someone does move there, them reducing our rent or paying utilities, especially since we'd now be sharing utilities with a stranger.
Well the zoning issue could be leveraged…
Whatever you think, this is your last year in the house. act accordingly.
anonymous complaint to code enforcement. Only what can be seen. Moving septic...I think they need a permit?
This is all just completely illegal
Check with se if he got permits for every thing
I'd suggest talking to your landlord ASAP. Sounds like they're overstepping big time. You've got rights as a tenant, and they can't just do whatever they want without your consent. If they won't listen, maybe look into legal advice. Your lease should protect you, so make sure you know your rights before you bring it up with them. If you need any help in this case or wish to talk to other landlords in this regards, do consider joining r/LeaseLords and connect with other landlords there who put tenants first.
You're in a tough spot. Sounds like your LL/Relative is trying to double up their income, which isn't a bad thing, however they way they are doing it seems suspect. You need to evaluate possible outcomes and value of those results. If the value of personal relationship is important, then look at moving and end the business relationship to preserve the personal. If the opposite is true, and your lease has specific language describing the property, and your use of it, then you may be able to pursue for breach of contract or damages. Either option ends the business relationship. You may get a few bucks out of option 2, but I don't know if it will be worth the cost.
The title is wrong, it’s not your property.
I would just call the county or city and report it anonymously. At a minimum there would be hoops for your landlord to jump through that would take a long time. If that doesn’t work and you don’t want to make Thanksgiving weird go to your landlord and explain the situation and see if he’ll just let you out of the lease. If that doesn’t work then go to a lawyer and go nuclear. You are in the right but it’s complicated by family being involved so I encourage you to be pragmatic about it.
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I think you are in a lose/lose situation. You are 100 per cent right but at some point, your landlord/family member will not renew your lease. To share utilities and the septic tank, he decided to make the tiny house close to the main dwelling. There is nothing right about what the LL is doing but fighting him is only going to get you a few months of privacy.
The LL is in breach. Your lease doesn't include just the house. It includes the entire parcel. He can't put a tiny house there without getting you to agree to a change in the lease. You aren't just renting the house you're renting the *land.* Unless the lease specifies he can make major improvements to the land, he can't legally do this. You should consult with an attorney. The tiny house is already there so your privacy is gone. My recommendation is you look elsewhere for a place to rent. You need an attorney to help you break the lease because your family member is in breach. Or to force him to restore the property to its previous condition if you are going to stay there until the lease ends (at which time he'll end the lease and force you to move anyway). Now you could check with your county and see if your LL got permits for what he did. If he didn't, they might make him remove the house. Also check with the utilities and demand separate meters or you will be paying for the new tenants electrical and water bills if you decide to stay there. But your relative will figure that out eventually and may move to get you out ... so again, you should start looking for a new place now. Your relative is an idiot. Septic work is expensive. He could have caused the system to fail by digging it up; it might not be big enough for the number of people who will be using it. He's counting on your non-confrontational personality to get away with something he'd never get away with from a stranger. NTA And yeah, there are a lot of LLs on this sub. Some are nice, some are OK, some are jerks like everything else on Reddit. Many, like me, have been both tenants and LLs so we understand how the rules work better than many of the tenants who post questions here ... because tenants who post here ask questions because they don't understand what their rights and responsibilities actually are. While some posters here don't like the LLs, its because often they are told things they don't want to hear.
I mean, it's not necessarily true that the lease covers the entire parcel. It's likely, but OP should check their lease to be sure.
1) Lawyer 2) Check with your relative and explain your concerns. IT is still their property. 3) Contact city zoning...
If you have a lease agreement you can break it that’s about it
ignore the idiots who just say "talk to a lawyer". They know nothing so that's what they say as if it's somehow intelligent commentary. Practically speaking, your option is to move out. The landlord has broken the lease in many ways. So I would move out, demand full deposit back and if one dollar is missing, sue for maximum damages and legal fees. On the way out, I would call the county department of building and safety, along with the utility companies to tell them about the illegal construction.
Now who's the idiot? No lawyer will take a case that won't make them any money. That means small claims court. She won't get enough for it to be worth while. Talking to an attorney may uncover other options.
Calm down. Your fear of being an idiot is showing.
....you don't own the property, correct?
No, just like I don't own a leased car but would still be pissed if the dealership removed one of the seats mid-term. I got so many comments like these, I'm not sure if all of you are landlords or just bots? Either way, there is a hive-mind situation happening.
You got a few options here. 1)suck it up and deal with it. Because it's a rental that you pay to live in, not to own. 2)cause problems and be huffy and sweaty. Cause that ALWAYS ends up well when leade renewal comes around. Whichever you chose, I really don't care.
That's true, I'll probably just end up doing nothing and being taken advantage of because I don't own the land and am not a confrontational person.
As some have said you have to see what you lease specifies. In my leases I specify that I am only renting the apartment to my tenant. The hallways outside the apartment are mine. The backyard is mine. The driveway is mine. Obviously they have to use the hallway to get to their unit but they are in no way required to maintain it. I do allow them to use the backyard and driveway but there lease does not make them entitled to it. You keep saying your house. This is not your house you are renting it. Your landlord is allowed to dig up the septic tank if he wants to on his property. Being given notice applies to accessing personal areas that you live in.
If that's the case then why am I required to mow the lawn if it isn't "on the premises"?
You are required to mow the lawn because you agreed to those terms. My bfs landlord tried throwing that into his lease and my bf let him know he wasn’t having it.
We're not talking about an apartment. I've rented many houses. When you rent a house, the tenant is required by the lease to maintain the grounds. Hers happen to be 2 acres, but she still has to maintain it. Sure her LL can dig up the septic tank. He still has to follow state law in doing so.
Call the county & ask “how many buildings are to be on this parcel, inform them there’ a building being plumbed in/electrical added/septic junction into the existing house & you’re not sure if this is being legally done with permits.”
OP you’re stating all of these issues that would be valid if it was your property, but it’s not. The plumbers seemingly didn’t enter the house, so I don’t believe a notice period really applies. The lease states your rental is just for you and your wife…it still is. The landlord should have communicated with you better and stated their intentions, but I don’t think they’re necessarily violating your lease. If you’re not happy with the situation, the best course of action is probably to move. Otherwise if you want to play dirty, investigate the zoning laws and regulations for your exact location (they can be different parcel to parcel). What’s allowed to be there? Did your landlord go through the city and amend the zoning if multiple dwelling units weren’t already legal? Also, keep in mind that parcel data isn’t updated online immediately. After looking into it, if you find the additional dwelling unit isn’t allowed then report it to the city anonymously and they’ll stop any work that’s being performed and prohibit anyone from inhabiting the other unit.
Clause 5 on our lease: *The premises shall be used exclusively as a residence for 2 persons.* Clause 10: *Tenant shall irrigate and maintain any surrounding grounds, including lawn and shrubbery, and keep the same clear of rubbish or weeds, if such grounds are a part of the premises and are exclusively for the use of the Tenant.* I've been expected to tend to the lawn and surrounding area since moving in, so only one could be true: 1. only the inside of the house is being rented, therefore I should cease mowing immediately, or 2. the outside of the property is also part of the lease, therefore I should continue. If 2 is true, then we should look at Clause 12: *Owner shall have the right to enter the premises: (a) in case of emergency; (b) to make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, or alterations, improvements, supply necessary or agreed services, or exhibit the premises to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workmen, or contractors; (c) when tenant has abandoned or surrendered the premises. Except under (a) and (c), entry may not be made other than during normal business hours, and without not less than 48 hours prior notice to Tenant.* Therefore whether or not the crawlspace of the house is inside the house or not, it is part of the premises, and I have the right to be notified if someone is going to be there except in case of emergency. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though, that's why I made the post.
How is ‘premises’ defined? It’s even possible it wasn’t explicitly defined or the LL has muddied the waters between the rental unit and the grounds by using premises incorrectly or inconsistently. You can definitely talk with your LL and express that you believe notice should have been given. And yes, you can probably use all of this to stop doing the yard work and even pay less rent. You’re caught up with contractual things (which is valid, don’t misunderstand my intentions). With your lease in hand, you can try and reason with the LL and point out continuity errors or how terms are being broken and try to renegotiate them. But in my opinion, there’s no way that tiny home is moving without ‘force’. Those options of force are pretty limited to my suggestion of city regulations, or court. Court will be very expensive and I could be wrong, but I don’t know if awarding attorneys fees would apply in this case. Maybe it would…but until you win you’ll have to pay out of pocket and even spend months after the fact trying to collect on a judgement. I think after picking apart your agreement you may have a lot of negotiating power to amend the terms, but I’d temper your expectations to the fact that the additional home will likely stay. If that’s ultimately not okay, then find a better place.
That's a good question - normally in a legal document you'd have a forward that defines things like "tenant", "premises", etc, but in this case the template they downloaded off the internet didn't have one. Given the clause about upkeeping the premises (mowing, weed eating, etc) and him explicitly noting that clause and asking me to mow, would lead me to believe that the "premises" include the lawn and surrounding area (since it says I would only be responsible for this work *if* the premises include grounds to upkeep). But in the end you're totally right. To be honest I don't have any intention of going to court or even threatening it. I was mostly looking for advice in terms of things to have leverage on so we could negotiate rent down, they could start paying for the now-shared utilities, or we could be given some other concession other than "here's your new neighbor, have fun splitting utilities and mail". The best-case scenario for me now would be those negotiations; not threatening court and having to pack all my stuff and move when my lease ends. Thank you for all the advice!
Why don't you sit down and talk this through with your landlord-relative? All of this seems like communication problems.
Yeah just move
You got punkd
Don't get the law involved with family unless you absolutely need to. Ask the family member to let you out of the lease early.
Honestly, I'd just make a call to the township/county about what looks like illegal and unpermitted work being done... let them handle it
You should report this to the county because the odds are he doesn’t have any permits to do this. You should also talk to an attorney to see what your rights are. I’m pretty sure your landlord is taking advantage of the fact that you related thinking that you won’t complain about anything
So much wrong in this whole situation. Your family (landlord) is bypassing so many laws it is not even funny just to save him money so he can make more money.
The way I read clause 10, this lets you off of all maintenance of the grounds. Clause 10: Tenant shall irrigate and maintain any surrounding grounds, including lawn and shrubbery, and keep the same clear of rubbish or weeds, "IF" such grounds are a part of the premises and are exclusively for the use of the Tenant. Since it will not be for your exclusive use, you don't need to do the work. That's a big "IF" in there.
Check with a lawyer. If he can’t rent out the small house because you are in control of the entire property. Let him finish then prevent him from letting anyone move in unless you receive rent reduction.
Call the city offices to see if a second home on the property was permitted? The water might be from a well, but if not, who's paying the water bill? Who's paying the gas and electric bill? How much are they discounting your rent to compensate for the intrusion? What about student parties? Is there parking areas for extra vehicles? I know it's a hassle, but I'd start looking for other rental options.
That septic system is for the house. Adding another structure that utilizes the septic will cause more frequent needs to be emptied. The zoning probably stipulates the size approved for the land without the other structure.
You call the town, if there is such a thing, and report it, if it's not permissible. If it were not a family member, you could have/should have told the owner that you had the entire property leased, and that they could not do this. But you didn't say a word, and now it doesn't seem right to fight it after he's done it. Give notice, and look for someplace else to move to. If he complains about your breaking the lease, tell him that he has violated the terms of the lease himself, and that you'll stay to finish out the term if he stops and puts everything back the way it was, including the lawn.
I did say that we need to talk about this and we need to get a new agreement in writing, but that was a week ago and I haven't heard anything since. He agreed with me and said we could talk about negotiating rent, but then he said he didn't feel like it should be such a big deal. I mostly made this post to figure out what leverage I could use, or what grounds I can stand on in our next discussion about it. Thank you for the advice!
speak to a lawyer BUT ALSO call the local health depth and ask about the septic situation-
Start looking for a new place to live if you’re going to fight it out with your family. They are changing the terms of the lease and you can do what you want to do with that. Speak to them renegotiate the lease terms and go from there. But get ready to move on.
Yeah, already in that process. I moved back here from out of state last year and I'm planning on just moving right back. I wanted to stay here longer but since I don't feel like looking for an apartment just to stay here until the end of the year, I'm just gonna go ahead and move states again. Oh, and remember the adage of never doing business with family
Hate to break it to you. It's their property. Not YOUR house. Not YOUR property.
Imagine this: you buy a first-class plane ticket with assigned seating. Halfway through the flight, the CEO of the airline shits in your seat and cuts it in half. Are you mad? Why? Do you own that seat? Do you own the plane?
Usually if there are two dwellings being lived in full time requires two separate addresses for E911. We live in the country and had a mobile home placed by our house and the county required a separate address. The power company would not set up power without. We do share water but this is an ADU situation for us (extra living space for guests). It has its own mailbox, it's own septic and permitted by county and state fire marshall.
It seems like your landlord is trying to do some very shady stuff. You usually can’t place a house like that down without permits from the city/county. So look into notifying the city/county about it. Also get a lawyer because there is a decent chance that your landlord violated the lease by putting the new house there. Since it seems like the premises is the whole property. And someone can’t just put a new house on that property without the city/county knowing about it. And keep in mind. I Am Not A Lawyer.
As someone who owns property similar to your rental in rural southern US (AL specifically), you have two choices. Move, or hire a lawyer and burn a family bridge while it takes years to clear the legal system. Our across the “street” neighbor plopped a tiny home down and did all the proper permits and procedures that a city would require. The guy behind us threw down 2 full manufactured homes by himself, rigging electricity and water, no foundation, and it looks like something out of deliverance country. No one batted an eye until his septic spilled into the local waterway and the civil corps of engineers don’t play around. Otherwise he would have been fine. You have two issues here. Doing business with family, and doing business in a rural unregulated area. And seeing how you stated that you’re paying above comp for more hassle and less freedom, I think you have your answer. ETA- If it goes to court it could be argued that they broke and changed terms of lease without warning or proper addendums and he’s not going to look great. At most it’ll give you the legal right to break the lease without penalty but don’t expect recompense.
I would move in this situation.
Speak with an attorney. However, I own rental houses also. And please understand that a landlord can give you an eviction notice if it's necessary to do needed work on this property. Now, they also have to give you the legal time frame allowed. Also, understand (not trying to upset you) this property is not yours. And it's not like a lease on a car. In fact, if the landlord has a mortgage on it, then it's not legally owned by the landlord! A bank can demand to be paid for the loan in X days! Seriously, consult with an attorney, but in the long run, the landlord will win this.
oh boo hoo hoo......
Really depends on your local laws, specifics of your rental agreement, etc. Since you are renting from a relative did you skip a written agreement? If your written agreement specifies you were renting the whole 2 acres, you might have a chance to fight it. However local laws and the content of rental agreements often vary. Some of the boilerplate online ones are more for apartments and might say you have no claim to common areas implying there could be multiple units.
Your next family reunion should be interesting.
Contact a lawyer. They will understand all the details in the lease agreement better than you will. Don't wait for anymore damage to be done to the property
Why in the hell would you make material upgrades to someone else’s property? You’re trying to be a property owner while renting. Sounds like you need to go get your own place.
What material upgrades?
Making a garden would be a material upgrade to their property. Even if you get everything for free, it’s still your labor and it’ll still increase the property value that isn’t yours. Maybe it’s a small one so who really cares, but if I was renting I’d still do some kind of non-permanent gardening so it’s potentially transferable if you move.
It wouldn't have been a massive permanent garden, just a simple raised bed with some scrap wood to grow through this season. But I understand your sentiment. I was originally gonna be living here for more than just a year but clearly not (and that space is no longer available) do now I won't be.
Like many others said definitely check with municipality and confirm what’s going on is legal with septic and tiny house. Even if it is legal landlord probably voided/violated the lease with you. You rented a secluded house on 2 acres not a house on top of another house that’s going to be rented to college kids. At the very minimum they’d have to do a lease amendment with terms you agree to.
Call Code Enforcement
I doubt they're putting in separate water and electric meters, so they expect you to pay for the new tenants utilities.
Just call county zoning. They will end this for you.
Go to the city planning and permits office in your area, ask them if there are permits for the water line, power line, and septic line being run on the property you rent, also ask if there is any ordinances supporting or against a tiny home being added to the property, tell them your address, let the inspectors handle the rest, if he didn't pull permits he's screwed big time.
The landlord (likely) broke the terms of the lease. They are not going to stop. Unfortunately, given the complete lack of communication, I think your best option is moving. Give your landlord a call and negotiate an exit. I think it would be reasonable to mutually end the lease and for them to give you a month or two free rent in compensation for the hassle of an unplanned move. In addition, you will need to be informed of major construction that impacts your home’s systems (ie water or electricity shut offs) or that might be in the way of your moving efforts (i.e. anyone parked in your driveway). You’ll want to draw up a lease amendment and it would not hurt to get it notarized. If they refuse to negotiate, tell them you will be contacting an attorney and checking permits with the governing entity. The threat will likely be enough to encourage negotiations.
Have you verified that local zoning allows a tiny house on the property?
Based on your edits, my thinking is that you have leased the premises for the duration of the lease. That would be the entire plot of land and its improvements. Time to hire a local RE attorney and have them advise you further.
1st thing you do is call the zoning and permit offices and make a concerned citizen report of a possibly illegal building and septic work happening on the property. Then you plan to start looking for other housing and inform your relatives that since they're breaking the lease terms, you're gonna relocate.
If you want to know your options, spend a couple hundred bucks to consult a lawyer who is familiar with local law. You should probably start looking for a new place.
Health department needs to be notified. To install an additional septic system, there must be enough space and 100% reserve area is required. The reserve is important in case that system fails years down the road. In 30 or 40 years, if a septic system fails and a new system is needed, that new system can be installed in the designated reserve area. You need to find out how much additional septic area is needed for the new unit, which depends on the total number of bedrooms in both homes. The two units must feed into one line for waste.
I'd probably contact code enforcement. It's unlikely that they have the proper permits to be adding an addition domicile to the property.
No one likes Nimbys
I'm not sure if that applies here...?
There is a min square footage of living space for every town in the US contact your town code enforcement office and report them where I'm at ( a little Podunk town ) it's 1200 sq ft and these "tiny home" ppl go outside of city limits to unincorporated places to put these things up and then charge up to 1300 a month for them it's a total rip off
I genuinely was supportive of you until your edit calling people who provided feedback you didn't like 'landlords'. You sound entitled and now my suspicion is your landlord is well within the lines of your lease and the law. You're likely leaving out important information, but again, check to see if permits were pulled and/or consult a lawyer. Good luck with your new neighbor.
If I took a shit in your movie seat, would you be entitled by being frustrated?
You're a fucking joke. Enjoy your new neighbor.
Sorry you got triggered by reason. Thanks for the help!
More like you are calling the movie theater lobby "my lobby". I would object to the situation you are experiencing, too. Hopefully the lease is in your favor, but the OP is written in language as if you own the property. You may have leverage based on that, but only until the lease expires, at which point you can expect it to not be renewed. (And I'm a tenant, BTW.)
I'm not sure what you mean. The second sentence in my post mentions the fact that I'm renting. And why is it more akin to calling a movie theater lobby "my lobby"? In the analogy, the movie ticket is a lease, which grants exclusive use of something for a time. I'm not claiming to own a whole apartment complex because I rented 1 apartment
Read your lease and/or consult with a lawyer to see what your rights are. It's entirely plausible you don't have exclusive rights to the property written in the lease. You might, but we haven't seen your lease. Enjoy your new neighbor.
"...our property"
In English, we have colloquial terms and literal terms. For example, saying "my seat" in a movie theater doesn't imply you'll rip the chair out of the aisle and take it home. But it does mean you'd be pissed if someone else sat down in it, or, decided to saw it in half while you're watching the movie. Much like a lease, when I say "my house", I don't mean I own it now, just that I have exclusive use of it.
You keep saying "My". My door, my spetic tank, my lawn and my house.
In English, we have colloquial terms and literal terms. For example, saying "my seat" in a movie theater doesn't imply you'll rip the chair out of the aisle and take it home. But it does mean you'd be pissed if someone else sat down in it, or, decided to saw it in half while you're watching the movie. Much like a lease, when I say "my house", I don't mean I own it now, just that I have exclusive use of it.
I'm not bothered when a tenant says "my apartment". They rent a whole apartment. They don't just show up at night and grab any bunk in the building that's available. If I buy a premium assigned seat at a concert or on an airplane, it's normal to say "my seat". But you'd have to see what your rental agreement says about defining the "premises" that you rent. And take any rent control (or lack thereof) considerations into account in deciding how aggressively to pursue this.
I say my house while renting. It's my house while I live here. I even tell the landlord when calling, my toilet, my sink, etc. He calls it mine as well.
It’s not your house you are just renting, what makes you think the owner of the property can’t do what he wants on his property
You are wrong. So many people have left this same stupid comment.
Bruh what? Have you actually signed a lease that didn’t include the property you were renting? That’s fucking insane.
When you rent property to someone, you give up the right to use that property for your own purposes for the duration of the agreement. What makes someone think that their landlord can't do what they want on their own property is the landlord's agreement to temporarily cede those rights in exchange for money. Ownership and control are separate things. If you want to maintain control of your property, don't lease it to a tenant.
When you rent a house you are actually renting the full property. The landlord is permitted to install improvements, but they need to abide by notice requirements and cannot just move someone else into the property as well—it’s the same as if I were renting a full 2-bedroom and the landlord decided to lease out the other bedroom bc I wasn’t using it.
My hometown, my door, my septic tank, my lawn, my house. Lmfao wild. so possessive over not a single thing that’s “yours”
In English, we have colloquial terms and literal terms. For example, saying "my seat" in a movie theater doesn't imply you'll rip the chair out of the aisle and take it home. But it does mean you'd be pissed if someone else sat down in it, or, decided to saw it in half while you're watching the movie. Much like a lease, when I say "my house", I don't mean I own it now, just that I have exclusive use of it.
[удалено]
A) what does your lease say B) it's not "your" house
A) Like I said, it says that me and my wife have "exclusive use of the premises" B) In English, we have colloquial terms and literal terms. For example, saying "my seat" in a movie theater doesn't imply you'll rip the chair out of the aisle and take it home. But it does mean you'd be pissed if someone else sat down in it, or, decided to saw it in half while you're watching the movie. Much like a lease, when I say "my house", I don't mean I own it now, just that I have exclusive use of it.
No. When you rent a property, you are renting the property rights from the owner. Therefore it is perfectly appropriate to call it "your house."
They can call it their space ship if they want to. It's still their rental, it's not their house. If it was their house they could have a say in if the septic system is dug up or not.
Lots of tiny house issues with zoning and whether infill (multiple dwellings on a lot) is allowed. Plus whether the septic tank /ainfield as set up / the perkability of the soil will support an extra toilet / grey water. And permits. Did city / county planning come out? Were permits pulled / posted?
I got a phone call last week from my relative saying they "lucked up" and came across a deal on a tiny house. Then 30 minutes later it was in my front yard. The only other people I've seen over here were the plumbers under my house - something tells me the county/city won't be coming out here.
I think the first letter of "lucked up" is wrong.
Haha! That took me a few seconds. But yeah, regardless of what happens I have a newfound lack of trust in my family. I think I'll take the pacifist route and just move at the end of it. I already voiced my concerns but I think the best bet is to just move and never do business with family again.
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